Scaling Suilven: the long way in to Assynt's terrible peak

I'm no hillwalker, but there's an undeniable thrill in climbing across some of Scotland's wildest and most dramatic landscapes... and there's nowhere more dramatic than Suilven.

The one constant of rural life? Being told what to do

Whether governed by landlords or urban bureaucrats, the British countryside is plagued by paternalism

Will this government oversee the extinction of swifts and wild salmon?

From botched trade deals and abandoned green policies to governance by ideology instead of pragmatism... is it not time we had some grown-up politics?

Listening to the land

Both parties would probably deny it but hippies and hunters have more in common than they might think.

Does Labour Care About Nature? Their Latest Attack Suggests "No"

The latest attack on nature-friendly farming planned by the Labour government threatens to change our countryside for good. They must urgently change course.

Winners and Losers: Impact of Trade Deals on British Farming

Overall, Starmer could leave us with the worst of all worlds

Treasury to slash nature-friendly farming budget?

Reports suggest that the budget that enables farmers to make space for nature will be cut in the forthcoming government spending review.

Parrots of power 🦜

From Alexander the Great in the fourth century BC, to the Holy Roman Emperor in the 13th century, to British pirates of the 18th century, one bird family has travelled through space and time as world power politics made manifest.

Bird Tales: From French Bresse to English Partridge

We may have gone abit hatching crazy but what else do we have to do? Will our English Partridges survive?

Saving Rare Breeds: A Race Against Time

Farming is a numbers game. It always has been. The number of acres, the size of the herd or flock, the weight of the crop, the yield of the harvest and, crucially, the balance in the bank at the end of the year.

Boosting Scotland's beef industry, two more cows at a time

Beef cattle numbers in Scotland have been heading in the wrong direction for years - but a bold new campaign is aiming to inject some much-needed confidence and map out a path to get those numbers back on track.

Rare-bit: why Britain's bunnies are disappearing

A "Chinese Virus" is rampant, and no-one knows how to stop it